What the numbers tell us about David De Gea’s importance to Manchester United

David De Gea has signed a new long-term contract to keep him at Manchester United until 2023.

Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has called De Gea the world’s best goalkeeper and here, the PA news agency assesses the Spaniard’s value to United.

Clean sheets

(PA Graphic)

While the role of a goalkeeper is becoming more rounded in the modern passing game, keeping the goals out remains the primary concern.

De Gea became the 15th keeper with a century of Premier League clean sheets when he shut out Liverpool’s vaunted attack in February’s goalless draw at Old Trafford, his 264th appearance in the competition.

He now has 102 in 280 games, the most of any goalkeeper in the time since De Gea’s debut. That includes a run of six in a row during the 2012-13 season, when he did not concede a league goal across February and March.

De Gea has another 16 shut-outs to his name in 42 Champions League games with United.

Saves

De Gea’s superb reactions have led to a host of breathtaking saves for United, with the club taking to tagging the clips #DaveSaves on social media.

He combines quality with quantity, saving 73.6 per cent of the shots on target he has faced in the Premier League – 785 saves against 282 goals conceded, according to the league’s official website.

That percentage jumped to 80.4 as he won the league’s Golden Glove award for the 2017-18 season, conceding only 28 goals in 37 appearances with 18 clean sheets.

Honours

David De Gea lifts the FA Cup trophy (Mike Egerton/PA)

De Gea has helped the club to four major honours since signing from Atletico Madrid in 2011 – the Premier League in 2012-13, the 2015-16 FA Cup and the League Cup and Europa League in 2016-17.

That title-winning campaign saw him make his lowest number of appearances in a full Premier League season, 28, as Anders Lindegaard played 10 games. De Gea still kept 11 clean sheets and saved 76.4 per cent of the shots that came his way.

He played six games in that FA Cup win – missing only the fifth-round win at Shrewsbury – and kept two clean sheets in five matches en route to 2017’s League Cup success, but played just three group-stage games in the Europa League as Sergio Romero took the bulk of playing time.

De Gea has also played in three Community Shield wins, including the first of his 367 United appearances in all competitions so far.